


Scary Movies, Safe Arms

by mediocrityatbest



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, is cute, pre-romantic prinxiety - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 09:17:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21195290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mediocrityatbest/pseuds/mediocrityatbest
Summary: This is for Sanders Sides Spooky Month hosted by @sanderssidescelebrations on Tumblr!Day Nine Prompt: Friday The ThirteenthRoman hates scary movies. He always has. He definitely does not want to watch one, not even for Virgil. Well...maybe he'll try for Virgil.





	Scary Movies, Safe Arms

To say Roman was apprehensive would be a massive understatement. The understatement of the century - no! the millenia, in fact. Of course, telling that to anyone would be absolutely ludicrous and he would never tarnish his very own reputation that way.

The thing was: it was Movie Night. Normally, this was a very good thing, a very  _ happy _ thing that everyone rejoiced in. The Problem was that October had been underway for a while now and Virgil had been begging for a Scary Movie Night since September. Obviously, he desired one very badly if he was willing to push the subject so often. And if it had been anything else, Roman would have been delighted to acquiesce. He would have put aside his own discomfort without a second thought so that Virgil could have this with them.

But it had to be scary movies.

The last time Roman had hung around when a scary movie was on, he had been ten years old. He’d seen the possessed person and the awful things happening and immediately decided that he would not be watching any of that, no thank you, have a good day. And despite leaving the room, he’d still had nightmares to such a degree he had started sleeping in Remus’s bed instead of his own again. Which, to be fair, may have made it worse.

So he’d been subtly fighting against this ever since Virgil had brought it up. He’d been fighting for everyone except himself. Patton would be terrified beyond imagining! Logan would not be able to immerse himself in the movies as he liked to because they were so unrealistic! There really was, Roman insisted, not much of a market for those movies here.

But after weeks of asking, Patton had relented. He’d said they probably weren’t that scary anyway, so sure, he’d try one, kiddo! And days later, Logan had sighed begrudgingly and admitted that they probably weren’t that much worse off than any other movie - and especially the animated ones that Roman and Patton tended toward.

Which left Roman, floundering for excuses.

The day after Logan agreed, Roman buckled his boots extra tight and prepared to admit defeat.

“I  _ suppose _ ,” Roman said, as dramatic as he could be to hide the shake in his voice, “that we can have a Scary Movie Night. Nerd and Padre don’t seem to mind and who am I to deny something so simple? But just one,” he added quickly. “It wouldn’t be a Movie Night without a musical.” And, well. The smile that lit up Virgil’s face might very well be worth going sleepless for a few weeks. He jumped up to give Roman a hug, something that rarely happened because he disliked having too much contact, and then he went off for breakfast rambling faster than ever before about all the movies he thought they should watch.

Roman breathed quietly, listening to Virgil. This could be worth it. This  _ would _ be worth it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This  _ was not in any realm _ worth it.

They were not more than fifteen minutes in and the music alone was enough to make Roman feel like he was going to explode. He felt like something was going to creep out from under the couch and grab him and he  _ knew _ that was ridiculous because he was always the one to do monster checks for them all when they were little. Had the living room always been so dark with the lights off, or was he imagining that? Were the curtains moving in the air conditioning or was there something over there? Was the cold current running over his feet from the vent, or were they all about to die?

Suffice it to say, at the very first jump scare, Roman was out for the count. He flung himself into the closest person - Virgil, warmer and stronger than he looked like he’d be - and shook his head wildly.

“Nope. Nope. I tried, I failed, I can’t do this, can we please stop?” Almost instantaneously, the movie paused and the lights were coming on. He didn’t know who had braved the dark of their apartment to reach a light switch or lamp, but he was eternally in their debt. And he’d tell them that right after he could breathe again.

“Woah, Princey? Are you alright? It’s okay,” Virgil muttered into his hair and Roman felt so incredibly stupid now because this really should not have been such a big deal and he was ruining this event Virgil had wanted for over a month now and he really just needed to calm down.

“What’s wrong?” Virgil asked, hand rubbing his back. It was much more of a comforting motion than it should have been considering just seconds ago he was ready to jump out of his skin if something touched him.

“I-” Roman stopped, pulled back from Virgil. He was ashamed. This was not the heroic Prince he always claimed to be. “Nothing, I’m sorry.”

“Roman, don’t lie,” Patton said from his other side. “The only way to get help with a problem is talk about it.”

“Yeah, Princey,” Virgil agreed. “Whatever it is, it’s fine. You just gotta say something.” He hesitated. Surely Virgil would be upset if Roman admitted the truth-the thing Virgil loved, Roman despised. “Come on,” Virgil said. “Spill.” Well, it was worth a try, if nothing else.

“I do not like scary movies,” Roman said, voice small. “I thought I could watch the one and it would be fine, but it appears that is not the case. I am very sorry, Virgil. I know how much you have been looking forward to this, and I-”

“Stop apologizing,” Virgil said quickly, flustered. “Don’t-don’t apologize for being scared. That’s-uh, that’s the whole point of the movies, Ro, and it’s not for everyone.” Virgil ran a hand through his hair. “I wouldn’t have brought it up so much if I’d known. Really. You only ever said anything for Patton and Logan and I figured you didn’t really care, which, yeah, that’s avoidance 101.” He shook himself. “It’s fine. We can put on a Disney movie or-or whatever you want to watch.”

“But you’ve been wanting to do this so badly,” Roman said.

“And it’s something I can do in my own time. And god knows Remy is always down for staying up way later than we should be.” Virgil smiled-er, maybe something closer to a half-smile or a smirk, but the point remained that he was being really nice and understanding about all this. “I would never ask you to do something that made you feel bad,” he said quietly. “You guys have never asked it of me, either. It’s fine if scary movies aren’t our thing, Princey. We have plenty of other things.”

Roman sighed. “Still, I’m sorry for ruining this.”

“Don’t be. And you didn’t. You tried to do it and that is honestly a whole lot when you’re scared. Now, c’mere.” Virgil opened his arms. Roman stared. “Don’t make me sit like this all night, Princey Charming.” Roman curled carefully into Virgil, and Vrigil’s arms wrapped around him securely. He actually, against his common sense, felt much safer like this. “What movie?”

“Frozen?” Roman suggested.

“We can do that,” Virgil said. The lights flicked back off and Logan switched the movies. Roman relaxed considerably the longer he laid with Virgil, and eventually, movies later with Virgil seeming just as content with Disney as he had been before and the guilt receding from Roman’s conscious, Roman fell asleep in Virgil’s arms, more comfortable than any bed he had ever been in and, well, maybe scary movies  _ were _ good for one thing.


End file.
